Makers Mark 180

As many of you may know, Makers Mark announced a little over a week ago they were dropping the proof of their bourbon from 90 to 84.  I don't think Makers could have anticipated the firestorm that developed from that decision.  Initially the negative feedback on their Facebook page didn't seem to phase them.  Well, that quickly changed as days progressed. 

At first Rob Samuels at Makers released a statement explaining in further detail the reason why they changed the proof and to explain the process they went through to determine that there would be no loss of quality to the Makers Brand.  The 3% drop, as Rob explained, would enable them to meet market demand, which I will agree is valid reason.  I personally think the decision was the path of least resistance and cost; at least that's what they may have thought.  Brand Ambassadors and loyalists pitched a hissy fit in the ensuing days. 

Well, this evening  I received an e-mail from Rob Samuels as I'm sure many of you did stating this:

"Since we announced our decision last week to reduce the alcohol content (ABV) of Maker’s Mark in response to supply constraints, we have heard many concerns and questions from our ambassadors and brand fans. We’re humbled by your overwhelming response and passion for Maker’s Mark. While we thought we were doing what’s right, this is your brand – and you told us in large numbers to change our decision.

You spoke. We listened. And we’re sincerely sorry we let you down.

So effective immediately, we are reversing our decision to lower the ABV of Maker’s Mark, and resuming production at 45% alcohol by volume (90 proof). Just like we’ve made it since the very beginning.

The unanticipated dramatic growth rate of Maker’s Mark is a good problem to have, and we appreciate some of you telling us you’d even put up with occasional shortages. We promise we'll deal with them as best we can, as we work to expand capacity at the distillery.

Your trust, loyalty and passion are what’s most important. We realize we can’t lose sight of that. Thanks for your honesty and for reminding us what makes Maker’s Mark, and its fans, so special.

We’ll set about getting back to bottling the handcrafted bourbon that our father/grandfather, Bill Samuels, Sr. created. Same recipe. Same production process. Same product.

As always, we will continue to let you know first about developments at the distillery. In the meantime please keep telling us what’s on your mind and come down and visit us at the distillery. It means a lot to us."

My opinion of this about face is Makers saw the potential fall out of this decision and did the smart thing; eat a little crow, apologize and seek other solutions to meet market demand.  As Rob said in his note, growth is a good problem to have.  I applaud Makers for keeping the proof at 90.  I believe this in turn, will make their growth problem even worse attracting more drinkers of Makers Mark.  For all those that ran out day one of the announcement snatching up bottles of 90 proof Makers.....I hope you kept your receipt.

Dusty Sampler #1....Dixie style

One of the fun byproducts of being part of a bourbon group is the degree of sharing that happens on a regular basis.  A common activity among the group is tastings, sometimes blind tastings as is the case with the current one I'm doing now.

Many of us in the group still dusty hunt so there's lots of out of production bourbon sitting in bunkers all across the US of A.  A buddy of mine down in North Carolina ponied up 10 samples of bourbon for a group of us to try blind.  These are all dusty examples with the first sample tasted and rated last weekend.

Eagle Rare 10 year 101 is one those iconic whiskey's that is considered good to great by most bourbon enthusiasts.  I blogged about ER101 a number of years back stating how much I liked this expression.  So, when I poured the sample, again not knowing at the time what is was, here were my comments.

"The nose is spicy as is the entry. Mouthfeel is moderate; not thin but not coating either. Entry has some spice kick, oak with an undertone of sweetness that is quickly overtaken by some heat and spice. Finish is medium in length with some bitter chocolate popping up toward the end. Rated 83"


At the time I posted my rating, my feedback was accurate.  The only problem is I should have waited about an hour because my review would have changed if I had done that.  I still had a healthy pour in the glass and so I slowly sipped over the course of time and after about 45 minutes I noticed the heat and spice begin to balance out and a caramel sweetness moving toward the front.  At about an hour the bourbon had changed noticeably and I was surprised that it happened that fast.  I made a rookie mistake in my haste to get my review in and since I have 9 more samples to work through I won't do that again.  So, as a reminder more to myself than anyone reading about this, air, water, ice can change the profile of whiskey and in some cases dramatically.

If you're in a rush, have a Bud Light....otherwise, pour a nice bourbon from you bunker and enjoy over time.

OWA - As the Mash Tun Churns!

In this episode of "As the Mash Tun Churns", the dramatic saga of Old Weller Antique continues......

Old Weller Antique get's a curious makeover......

Harlan shares a secret that causes a volatile reaction.......

The BT Brand Representative frantically tries to quash Harlan's contemptible comments......

Rumors abound Old Weller Antique may not live to see seven!

.....tune in next week for the continuing tale of "As the Mash Tun Churns"

Old Weller Antique is a much loved bourbon brand produced by Buffalo Trace.  I have a fondness for this brand....so much so that I and a group of like minded bourbon dorks buy the stuff by the barrel.  The first round of barrel picks we were fortunate to acquire were two 8 year old barrels.  The next run of three barrels 7.5 year and the last 2 barrel picks were also 7.5 years old. 

Our bourbon group is gearing up for another run in April with the expectation we would be picking 7 year plus barrels.  Well, that is not the case.  We've been offered 6 year old barrels and all for the same price.  I've blogged twice about OWA here and here. In summary, 2009 the age statement dropped from OWA.  I made some assumptions about the potential demise of this brand.  Fast forward to March of 2012 and Harlan Wheatley, the BT Master Distiller makes comments about the termination of OWA.  Now, this statement has been poo pooed by BT and others so you can make your own judgement.  But now, BT is saying no more 7 year old wheat bourbon in the Barrel Program.  Zilch.  There has also been comments about saving some of the 7 year stock for Weller 12 "...and other brands".  So, I guess one could come to the conclusion that the currently aging stock is for older expressions like Weller 12 or even Lot B.....and not OWA.  Hey, I'm just speculating....that's all.  But if that turns out to be the case, does that then mean OWA or maybe even Weller Special Reserve (WSR) go by the wayside to maintain stock of older expressions?  

Now, before someone reading this goes all freaky deaky and tells me that his buddy Cletis in Texarkana  just purchase an OWA barrel that was 9 years old let me clue the reader in on how the barrel program works.  BT allocates a certain number of barrels for their Barrel Program and when Group A wants to buy a barrel, they roll out a number of barrels for the tasting.  Group A picks the one they like and BT rolls those rejected barrels right back to the Program racks.  Group B comes in and very possibly, those barrels rejected by Group A end up on the tasting room floor......rinse and repeat for subsequent groups.  See how it works?  So Texarkana Cletis that just purchase that 9 year old barrel of OWA got a barrel that potentially was rejected numerous times by prior purchasers. 

Our process?  We specifically request first pick barrels.....no rejects.  We do the same thing with Four Roses.  Four Roses has a semi trailer behind the bottling house loaded with barrels for their Barrel Program.  We asked them not to pick from the trailer but only pick from the rickhouses to which they graciously submitted.  We have other criteria we submit for consideration to ensure we get great barrels and so far, it's worked great.

While the news was somewhat disappointing, it's an opportunity to try some younger OWA wheat mashbill and see how it stacks up against our previous picks....which will be used as reference during the tasting.  The only downside to the younger whiskey is the price stays the same.  So, in effect, we just got hit with a price increase.  Not surprising since BT has raised their prices on some of their product line (around 10% or so).  In the end, it's all about taste; not age or mashbill or label.  When we pick from Four Roses, we ask Jim Rutledge to roll out the barrels blind....we didn't want to know the mashbill recipe or age.  I think that approach is the most honest you can be when tasting bourbon.

So, just let me now make the point that this deviation in age affects the BT Barrel Program and may or may not have anything to do with the current OWA shelf offering.  I'll post my thoughts after the tasting in April but my hope is we find another stellar OWA barrel even at 6 years old.

Old.....Old Grand Dad

I bet you would never guess I have many friends who share my passion for bourbon....well, I have many.  As a byproduct, we do a lot of sharing and horse trading.

I met a good friend at a local cigar lounge today to just visit over a pint of Founders Porter and enjoy a nice Juan Lopez Corona Gorda.  He's a big dusty hunter and has pulled in some very nice bottles over the last year.

Recently, he fell into a horde of vintage bourbon from a guy dumping bottles picked up at an estate sale up in PA.  The original owner had boxes and boxes of old bourbon in his basement and a couple of those boxes contained 1962 Old Grand Dad Bottled in Bond.  My buddy was kind enough to share some of the OGD; it was a very nice gesture and one I gladly took advantage of.

The stopper and cork on this decanter was compromised so the bourbon had to be re-canted in order to eliminate any evaporation or oxidation so I dumped the whiskey into an empty I had laying around.  The fill level on the bottle was actually quite impressive considering it's been sitting around for 50 years.  I would say less than 10% loss over that time.

I tried a small sip of the bourbon and it has that musty old quality to it; one that I like very much.  I'll do a more in depth tasting in the near future.  

Bourbon Influx - Winter 2012

Oops...I did it again.  This time though I didn't travel to KY.  A smaller contingent of our group traveled to KY in October to again pick barrels from Four Roses and Buffalo Trace.

Right around Christmas, all that bourbon flowed in at one time.  The timing could have been better...say, a month or two after the holidays.  Along with the fall barrel picks were three selections of Willett.  These bottles were actually from the Spring 2012 KY barrel picks but KBD took some time getting everything bottled up so they didn't actually make it into my bunker until December.

All these selections are single barrel.

Old Weller Antique 7.8 yrs 107 pf (#14) - Profile of fruit, cream with a mild dose of oak mixed in.  Virtually no heat with a flavor pop about mid palate and then a long soothing finish.  This selection is not as sweet as some of the OWA picks and has a noticeable oakiness producing a nicely balanced bourbon.

Old Weller Antique 7.8 yrs 107 pf (#15) - This one is sweet right up front then transitions to a baking spice profile accented with caramel and a mild presence of cinnamon red hots.  Finish is moderate with a sweetness still noticeable on the palate for a couple minutes after.

Four Roses (OBSF) 10.3 yrs 124.5 pf - Tons of flavor on this one with fudge right up front, very sweet (think brown sugar, cinnamon, butter), maple with a finish that includes some nice barrel notes.  This one is dynamite and quickly topping my list of favorite Four Roses.

Four Roses (OESQ) 8.6 yrs 119.6 pf - This one was described by one member as "buttered popcorn" which I think nails the unique flavor in this bourbon.  Not as sweet as the OBSF but it has a nice viscosity coating the mouth and palate make the finish long and lingering.  The nose on this isn't overly pronounced but first sip puts a smile on your face.  Delicious.

Willett 9 yr 125.4 pf -No heat on the nose and superb entry that's sweet and then transition to some nice barrel notes of dark chocolate, honey and vanilla.  The finish is outstanding leaving a nice zing on the touch as it slowly fades away.

Willett 9 yr 128.4 pf - Zap...this one has some forward spice right out of the gate.  This one is sweet also but more like fudge and toffee sweet, not spun sugar.  Candied fruit and nut appears mid palate as the initial spice and heat takes a back seat.  There's a nice oak undernote that plays all the way through the finish which is moderate to long.

Willett 8 yr 130.5 pf - Caramel, caramel, caramel! This wheat bourbon is a flavor bomb (which is why we picked it).  Very creamy entry, lots of rich caramel, dark brown sugar, some bitter chocolate and slight wood.  I could sip this all night long....a stunning wheater.  Finish is fantastic with just a slight amount of heat popping up toward the end.  Nice transition in this bourbon.

Already the gang is gearing up for April.  I have my flight booked and we're finalizing schedules with the distillery reps for another round of barrel picks.  This next round, we're adding a couple new labels, Elmer T. Lee and Jefferson Rye.  Hope to find some nice barrels with these two new additions.

Stitzel Weller.....the return?

I've written quite a bit about Stitzel Weller bourbon over the last number of years as well as stating that they shut down operations around mid 1992.  Well, they're back.  The distillery grounds have been used over the years to age whiskey from numerous distillers but evidently Diageo has decided to fire up the still.

John Hansell over at Whiskey Advocate posts about the news.

I wouldn't get your hopes up that it will taste the same.  Let's see how things will shake out.  In the end, another KY distiller back in operation is good for whiskey lovers everywhere.

Holiday Beer Chug-a-lug

I was off the week of Christmas so decided what better time to get some guys together and enjoy some beer and home made tacos.

I decided the theme would be barrel aged (BA) beers.  I didn't want to focus on a singular profile (e.g. barrel aged stout) so did a little research and put together, what I think, was a pretty diverse list of BA brews.  Prior to the tasting I decided to whip up some home made taco's using a recipe found in Issue #67 of Beer Advocate.

First, I made the the tortilla's which consisted of roasted green chili's, garlic and pale ale along with the flour base.  Instead of make the salsa from scratch, I bought some chunky salsa, strained much of the tomato base out and replaced with a Dog Fish Head Chicory Stout and let that sit overnight in the fridge.  All I can say is it turned out quite tasty.  I used 80% lean beef for the filling and some good aged cheddar cheese.  For the first time making this recipe, it turned out quite well...my guests wouldn't shut up about it.

After lunch we got down to tasting beer.  Here's the lineup:

1. Boulevard Brewing Rye on Rye
2. Allagash Curieux
3. Goose Island Madame Rose
4. Williamsburg Alewerks Bourbon Barrel Porter
5. The Bruery Smoking Wood
6. Julio's Ry(e)an Ale
7. Old Suffolk English Ale
8. Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout

The Rye on Rye was a great start and as we worked our way through the brews, we really didn't find any that were stinkers.  I think the least favored was Smoking Wood.  For some, the smoke was too pronounced and dominated the profile.  The other near miss was the Madame Rose.  This is a Belgian style brown ale fermented with wild yeast and aged with cherries in wine barrels.  This reminded me of a tart ale with some sourness up front, big cherry profile and wine influence hanging around in the background.  To me, this was a very interesting beer and one I would enjoy again while some of the others said they would pass.  The three top picks were Rye on Rye, Bourbon Barrel Porter and of course, KBS. 

After tasting through the beer, we retired to the bunker bar and enjoyed a few bourbon libations.  Not a bad way to end the year.